On the Tip of a Dagger
by Misguided Angel of Death
Summary: She never backed down from a challenge before. Winning was in her blood. But she never thought that winning could be so hard.
1. And it begins

**Summary:** She never backed down from a challenge before. Winning was in her blood. But she never thought that winning could be so hard.

**Disclaimer:** I don't own the characters of Naruto in any way, shape, or form.

**Kazuki's corner: **This is one fanfiction that's been sitting on my hard drive for who knows how long. Now, I've finally decided to upload it. For those wondering, the main pairing is TentenxNeji has little to do with the series itself, it's just an idea that randomly popped in my head. Now, on with the story!

* * *

_On the Tip of a Dagger_

Chapter One- And it begins…

It was four o'clock in the morning. Only those on watch and at work were up at this time in the morning. Knowing that made everything much easier.

Into the club the curvaceous woman ventured. Some sort of techno music blared through the overhead speakers as she scanned the uncivilized place.

Then she found him.

Through the jumping and screaming people, white eyes shone. Hair the same dark brown color as hers pooled down his back, framing his face. A headband held back those strands, the leaf village symbol engraved into the metal.

She would've been breathless, if this wasn't a mission she had to complete.

Silently, the vixen pushed her way through the crowd, ignoring the cat calls and complements on her outfit: a black leather mini skirt and a mesh, long sleeved top with a leather vest over it. Knee high, black boots set off the outfit, accentuating her mesh stockings and fingerless gloves. So, of course, when she stepped in front of her target, it was natural for him to be surprised.

'Can I help you?" He asked slowly, his eyes locking with hers.

Her breath caught in her throat. Only then did she realize that his eyes weren't white; they were a pale lavender color. She bit her bottom lip. Never before could she not complete a mission assigned to her. She wasn't about to back down now.

'Are you Neji Hyuga?"

'Who wants to know?"

She paused. Would it hurt if he knew her real name? She decided to play it safe.

"Risa. Risa Nagano."

"What do you want?"

"Under the Hokage's orders, I am to bring you to Konoha for a meeting."

"And if I refuse?" He retorted.

Damn. This one was tricky, that's for sure.

"In case that event does occur, I will take you by force. The meeting's very important, and I would rather you get there unharmed, so let's keep that from happening, shall we?" She put on a fake sincere smile. He could tell by the look in her eyes that she was faking her reason.

He smirked. She was _looking_ for a fight.

'Alright. I'll come with you." Neji Hyuga stood up, and started to walk towards the back door. Risa followed suit.

'_This is gonna be easier than I thought.' _

Her hand slowly inched to the kunai strapped to her thigh. She needed to make this quick.

"And what do you plan to do with that, Risa-san?" His cold voice stopped her in her tracks.

"I told you already, Hyuga-san, I would prefer that you get to the meeting unharmed. I'm just taking a step of caution to ensure that. "

"Hm." He kept walking.

'_I didn't even know his Byakugan was activated! Man, I need to focus!'_

Risa took a deep breath and continued following him deep into the forest. Then he suddenly stopped. The dark shadows flickered dangerously around them.

"You're not one of the Hokage's subordinates, are you?" Neji questioned while staring straight ahead.

"Hmm…so you saw through it, did ya?" She purred as she twirled the kunai in her hands.

"What do you want?" His eyes narrowed as he looked at her over his shoulder. He stiffened as he saw her smile fade.

"Enough talk!" She snapped, charging at him at a speed so fast, he could barely dodge her attack.

He grunted as he turned around to attack her, in one of her vital areas like a true Hyuga warrior,. But he hit a shadow clone.

'_When did she use a clone jutsu?' _

He spun around quickly and ducked to avoid the high kick coming from his side.

'_Damn. She fast…I've got to do something.' _

Neji grabbed her leg and flipped her over his shoulder. In the process of doing so, he poked one of the tenketsu on her calf. When she tried to stand, her leg disagreed she nearly collapsed. Opposite to what he was planning, she grabbed three shuriken and four senbon from a hidden place in her outfit and sent them at him. He avoided getting hit by using a Divine Spin, but as soon as he stopped, six shuriken pierced his flesh.

"Umph!"

He stumbled back a couple of steps, glaring at her.

"Tough." Neji muttered.

'Same to you." She responded.

"Mind telling me the name of who I'm really fighting?"

"Hmm…Maybe a few seconds before you die….yeah…then you can never forget who I am!"

She charged at him. How, he couldn't figure out. He disabled the flow of chakra in her leg, but she still able to move at such a speed…

He sidestepped her punch and threw one of his own. She blocked with her arm and punched him in his gut with her free hand. He coughed and doubled over. His eyes widened. He saw her knee rising to hit him, but he couldn't move in time. As her knee connected with his chin, he flew backwards, groaning. She towered over him.

"This is the end."

"Oh, really, you must not have down you research on me."

Neji kicked her in the stomach, sending her flying away from him. She landed in a crouched position, with one hand and knee on the ground. Neji stood up and stared at her.

"You still think I'm so easy to defeat?"

The woman growled, jumping up and throwing an assortment of kunai at him. He dodged them easily, and saw her pounce at him from her position. He evaded by stepping back. Her attacks kept coming at him. He blocked every one.

That is. until she pulled out a kunai and slashed him in the arm.

He stepped back a little bit, holding his arm as blood slowly trickled through his fingers.

"Yes.' She said, spinning into a roundhouse kick. He was slammed against a tree. She stood in her place, waiting for his next move. He didn't get back up.

She walked over to him, kneeling beside him, with the kunai in her hand.

"Since it's over now, I'll keep my word…" She purred. "My name's Tenten." She finally admitted. "You put up a good fight."

"Not….done…yet…." Neji panted.

'Wha?"

Neji smirked as he was quickly replaced by a log. Tenten blinked, then screamed in frustration.

"I'll get you, Neji! You just wait! I _NEVER_ fail my missions!" She yelled to the stars.

Behind a tree, Neji Hyuga smiled to himself.

'_She's a tough one, alright…I look forward to fighting her again…'_

Then he was gone.

* * *

"Ow! Ow!"

'Stop moving and maybe it'll get done faster!"

"Grr…whatever, just hurry it up!"

'There. Done."

Tenten huffed and stood up, rubbing her calf as she glared daggers at her medic.

"Bout time."

The medic kunoichi growled. "If you had killed him, maybe you would've felt a little better." Her jade eyes held a fire within them.

"You could've told me that restoring chakra hurt, dammit! Maybe then I would've been prepared for it a little more!"

"You never asked!

"Sakura, Tenten, cut it out, would ya?" A irritated blonde kunoichi hissed. A giant war fan was strapped on her back. "The guy's tough, she couldn't have beat him on her own."

'Are you calling me weak?" Tenten snapped.

"I said nothing of the sort. "

"You insinuated it!"

"How do you figure?"

"Tenten was about to snap at her, but the remaining member of their squad stepped in. She was the most modest one, but also the mediator.

"That's enough." Her voice was soft. No one would've thought it possible for her to be capable of some of the most brutal murders out of the group. "It's only one mistake. It won't happen again…" Hinata looked at her brunette teammate. "Right?"

She reluctantly agreed.

"You should go get some rest Tenten. You've had a hard day." Then she turned to Sakura and Temari. 'I need to discuss tomorrow's plans with you two. I want to know exactly what this Neji Hyuga is capable of." Her eyes, which resembled Neji's a lot, narrowed. Apparently, it annoyed her that a member of her team was unable to complete a mission because of lack of information.

"Yes." The two kunoichi agreed in unison.

"All right…" The weapons expert muttered walking to her room. She wasn't tired but what Hinata said usually goes.

'_Be on guard, Neji. For the next time we meet, I will kill you.'_

* * *

_In a hideout somewhere in the forest…._

Laughter echoed through the woods, coming from a small camp set up in a wooded area.

"So you're telling me, you go whooped by a chick?" An loud, blonde haired, blue eyed ninja roared in amusement.

"Shut it Naruto…" Neji warned.

Standing off a little way from the others, a snicker came from a dark eyed brunette.

"Heh..What was it you said before? Don't let your guard down when it comes to women?"

"Quit it, Sasuke!" Neji was getting annoyed now.

"Hey, leave him alone, guys." The last remaining member stepped out of the shadows. "It's not like any of you could stand up against the Hokage."

That shut them up.

"Thanks Shikamaru."

"But you did get whooped by a girl, Neji." Nara smiled as the laughter resumed and Neji growled.

'I'm going to kill all of you!" The Byakugan user yelled.

* * *

**Kazuki's corner: I had to do it. Making Neji mad is so fun! So why are the girls out to kill Neji? And why is his team hiding? Find out next chapter. Read and Review! Onegai?**


	2. Research

**Summary:** She never backed down from a challenge before. Winning was in her blood. But she never thought that winning could be so hard.

**Disclaimer:** I don't own the characters of Naruto in any way, shape, or form.

**Kazuki:** First of all, thank you reviewers!! You all have forced me to work on this chapter. (Especially you, Serikya). Secondly, I didn't mean for it to be so short...I'll try harder next chapter, I promise! Until then, enjoy!

* * *

_On the Tip of a Dagger_

Chapter Two- Research

The sun had just risen over the horizon. Birds sung merrily as other forest-bound creatures began their daily routine. In a clear path of the forest, one obviously made for training, a mass number of weapons lay on the ground, each lodged within a bullseye or some other kind of target practice device. In the midst of it all, Tenten stood, smirking in triumph.

"Not one miss. Perfect." She muttered in delight as she stretched. Her hair was pulled back into a messy bun, not two as she usually had it. Some strands dangled in front of her face, but they didn't faze her.

"Nice job, Tenten. At this rate, even Temari can't block the weapons."

"Sakura...what are you insinuating by that?"

"Chill, Temari, it was a joke."

Tenten rolled her eyes as she took a seat on a nicely shaped rock. Having been training for the past five hours, she was tired. Temari and Sakura only woke up an hour ago, and have been training just as hard as she had, but not exactly as she had been. Each kunoichi had her weaknesses, and they figured they would work on that for training.

Sakura, the pink haired kunoichi bandit, was best in medical ninjutsu and genjutsu. She was good at taijutsu, but not one of the best ones out of the group. That didn't mean that she couldn't stand her ground, though. After all, she had 'inhuman strength' as everyone liked to call it. She was able to break a brick wall with a single punch. It was quite impressive, as she had the personality to fit her strengths. Whenever she was angered, she often got more powerful. Tenten had to find that out the hard way when they were arguing over a mission. Sakura was the most calculative out of the group.

Temari, on the other hand, preferred using her giant war fan in battle. She was never seen without it. She was able to use a summoning jutsu with it, and even so, she still had her ninjutsu. But, to make sure no one was lacking in the area of taijutsu, Hinata decided it would be best to train her in the subject. So, every time Temari had to train, it was usually in the subject of taijutsu. She had gotten better at the subject, and sometimes even incorporated her weapon into some of her attacks, causing even more damage to her targets. She was the more driven out of the kunoichis, having been raised to become an assassin.

Hinata had a few things to her advantage. One would be her Byakugan, a bloodline trait that only her clan possessed. Of course, she didn't really know that, having been abandoned as a child. With her Byakugan, she was able to use Jyuuken, and other attacks that attacked the tenketsu of the body. Since she was best at hand to hand combat, she prevailed in taijutsu more than anyone. Sakura assisted her in genjutsu training, while Tenten helped in the weapons department. Temari was the one who influenced her personality to be more outspoken and driven, as she had once been demure and quiet. Now she is a very good mediator, and therefore the leader of the group.

Tenten, like Temari, focused on weapons. Even though she preferred her weapons to taijutsu, she would do anything that would get the job done. She was also very good at long distance fighting, like Temari. She didn't really have any family before she met the other girls, and that may have been one of the reasons she was so focused in battle. Knowing that her friends would be alright on their own provided less of a distraction while she was fighting. She never goes easy on any of her targets , and completing her mission was always the most important thing in her agenda.

Together, the four traveled, researching and taking out anyone they felt like. Often, people hired them to take out certain people, which they had no problem with complying to, as long as they were fully paid to do so.

Hinata stepped onto the clearing. She held a small stack of papers in her hand.

"Here ya go girls." She dropped the papers on a tree stump. "Everything there is to know about Hyuuga Neji."

Tenten was the first to jump up and walk over to the stump. She picked up the first set of stapled papers. His picture was on the first page and it made her growl. She began to read:

_Hyuuga Neji, the most talented of the Hyuuga clan, is a highly respected shinobi of Konohagakure. He is known for his gifted abilities with his Byakugan, and his mastery of all the techniques. He became a chunin when he was 13 and a jounin when he was...Blah blah blah. _

"Is there anything interesting on this guy or what?" Tenten muttered as she tossed the set of papers down.

"Listen to this, Tenten," Sakura said smoothly. "In the Byakugan, there is a weakness. A blind spot exists from a small point below the first vertebrae. If any type of attack were to aimed at that spot, the attack is undetectable. However, there are attacks that are used to protect that blind spot. The Divine Spin is one of them. Other attacks are based on the user." Sakura smiled and glanced at her teammates. "So there's our key."

Hinata nodded. "I'm taking a guess, but I don't think this Neji has completed his Byakugan. So his blind spot is still there." She looked to Tenten. "So, are you ready to take him on again?"

Tenten smirked, twirling a kunai between her fingers. With little effort, she threw at the stack of papers. It landed just where she wanted it to. Right on Hyuuga Neji's head.

"Yeah, I'll think I'll take the second fight."

* * *

"So she's an assassin?"

Neji Hyuuga lied back against the base of a tree as he listened to Shikamaru's research findings. After the attack last night, Neji went all out with his team to find information on the Tenten girl. So far, only Shikamaru found something of use.

"She's part of an assassination group. All of them are women. Damn women are so troublesome." He murmured as he sat down. He didn't even need the paper to recollect what he read. "Each of them have their own specialties. Tenten's is handling weapons. Apparently she never misses a target." Shikamaru sighed and drank some of his tea. 'You've got a lot on your hands, Neji. Somehow you've managed to pull the one that never fails a mission."

Neji's eyes narrowed. "So, if she fails this mission...then her team will back her up and complete it for her?"

"Exactly."

"Damn."

"Who would want to kill Neji?" Naruto asked, slurping down his morning ramen.

"Naruto, the question is who wouldn't want to kill Neji." Sasuke pointed a thumb at his pale eyed teammate. "He's one of the best. All the people he's angered, and defeated? No doubt that someone has a grudge out there."

Shikamaru agreed with a sigh. "He has a point."

Naruto shook his head. "Damn, Neji you're screwed."

"Shut up, would you? It's too early to say it's over." Neji snapped. "Besides, if her team jumps in, you guys have my back, right?"

Shikamaru and Sasuke smirked and gave him looks that said 'You know it.' Naruto, on the other hand, paused.

"Yeah...I guess."

He barely had time to dodge the rock thrown at him.

"Fuck you man."

"You know I don't like fighting women!"

The four Konoha shinobi had been a team since they were Chuunin. Neji knew for a fact that Naruto would fight anyone if they hurt his friends.

"So, Neji, do you have a plan or something? You know, against her?" Shikamaru asked.

Neji shook his head. "Not yet...it's kind of hard, not knowing her fighting style and all..."

"Wait, wait wait." Naruto waved his hand to the side, as if he had to clear something. "You fought the girl, and don't know her fighting style?"

Neji sighed. True, it was unusual of him not to analyze his opponent, but this one was tough. "Listen, she was hard to read...her attacks weren't predictable, and I couldn't plan something on the spot like some of us do." His comment was directed towards Nara, but the shadow user didn't respond to it.

"So basically...she's like Naruto..." He thought out loud.

"Not exactly..." Neji stood up, pacing slightly. "She's more so like...Kakashi...Naruto can be read, you just have to do it right. Even though he is unpredictable, there's a way to evaluate him in the middle of the fight."

Naruto rolled his eyes, but they all knew it was true. Out of the entire group, Naruto would probably be the most predictable. The blonde leaned back against the trunk of the tree. "So how do you suggest we fight her? If she's like Kakashi then you have no chance of winning one on one."

"Gimme a few hours. I'll figure something out." Shikamaru said, already writing something on the scroll he used for strategies.

"Thanks, Shikamaru." Neji said, giving a small smile.

"Meanwhile, you guys train. Even though we have information on her, we don't have anything on her team. I'm going to see if I can find something of use. You should train in case of some kind of confrontation." He looked up. "Understand?"

The rest of the members nodded. As soon as Naruto finished his meal, they went off to the training area, while Shikamaru made his way back Konoha to find more resources.

* * *

A high kick coming from her left. A barrage of kunai at her right. Temari used her fan to send the kunai to the ground with little effort and she blocked the kick with her forearm. Twisting around, she kneed the attacker in the stomach and sent her to the ground. She heard the rush of footsteps behind her and acted on pure instinct. She ducked, feeling the wind of the kick rush past her as she sent her leg out and tripped her attacker. There was little time to do anything after that as she opened her fan to block the weapons thrown at her. She took a short breath and used a quick substitution jutsu to avoid the attacks from both sides. She appeared on the other side of her fan, picking it up and heaving a gust of wind at all three opponents. It managed to stop everything at once.

"You're getting better at this, Temari." Tenten mused, pushing herself off the ground and dusting herself off.

"No doubt about it. This time we didn't land a hit." Hinata said cheerfully.

"Thanks." Temari panted, leaning on her war fan. Having been going on like this straight for almost an hour, it wasn't a surprise that she was tired.

"I'll go get everyone something to drink." Sakura suggested, brushing her pink strands out of her face as she stepped inside their current place. It was big, and it belonged to some rich guy who they never heard of. They killed him, not because they were being paid to, just because they wanted to. No one was there to miss him anyway. The place was huge and they needed a place to stay. He just happened to be around at the wrong time.

"Thanks, Sakura." The girls said in unison as the medic walked inside. Each of them took a seat on anything that provided to be a seat. Tenten jumped into a tree and leaned back while sitting on a branch, Hinata sat on a tree stump, and Temari on her favorite rock.

"Has anyone heard from Katsuro?" Temari questioned, "What does he want done with Neji when he's dead?"

"No clue. He never called back to check up."

"Hmm...that's not like him, not to call...Oh well. He must have a reason for it." Hinata looked up as Sakura returned with the drinks.

"Hope you're in the mood for iced tea, cause that's the first thing I saw in the pantry." She said as she handed each girl her drink. She stopped when she came to Tenten.

"What?" Tenten asked as Sakura stared at her expectantly.

"You don't expect me to come up there do you?"

Tenten huffed and dropped from the branch, a scowl on her face. Sakura handed her the drink and smiled sweetly. "There ya go."

"Whatever..." The brunette muttered before returning to her seat. Sakura shook her head and went to her own seat next to Hinata.

"So...what's on today's agenda?" Temari asked, sipping tea absently while checking her giant weapon for any damages.

"Well...I suppose we could do more researching..." Hinata said, taking a mental note of how many of her kunai needed sharpening.

"Ugh. Research." Tenten muttered, just loud enough for the others to hear. "When can I actually go out and kill this guy?"

Hinata shook her head, amused. "Tenten, more than any of us, you know that you just can't go charging into a fight without doing your research. Remember what happened last time?"

A low grunt came from Sakura's direction. "I remember. I never had to repair a broken bone so many times in my life..."

Temari laughed, obviously remembering the incident, while Tenten growled. "Hey! That was not my fault, damnit! How was I supposed to figure out he could split up into two people?!"

Hinata snapped her fingers, then pointed at Tenten. "_That's_ why you do research."

The weapon-wielding brunette rolled her eyes, knowing when she was beaten. "Fine, fine. I'll research more on Neji..." She muttered, finishing the last bit of her drink before descending from her branch. She muttered something about stupid research, and entered the building the resided in. Sakura sighed.

"If she keeps acting like that, I might have to start studying a lot more medical ninjutsu..."

Hinata's lavender eyes lingered on the door of the house.

"Somehow...I think that won't be necessary..."

Temari and Sakura shared a confused look, but left Hinata to her own thoughts. The pink-haired nin turned to the blonde.

"Ready for genjutsu training?"

"Might as well be."

* * *

The dark haired shinobi sighed. He was enjoying the small amount of peace that he could, watching the clouds as they floated overhead. A huge stack of papers lay beside him, divided into separate sections by staples or paper clips. Something about the information troubled him, and as usual, he wouldn't voice it to his team unless he absolutely had to. Instead, he lied on the grassy hill, staring at the clouds, deep in thought.

"Hey, Shikamaru!"

The Nara grunted, turning his head to look at his visitor. Surprisingly, he wasn't as annoyed as he thought he'd be.

"Hey, Choji."

The shadow manipulator turned back to the fluffy white marshmallows in the sky as his best friend sat beside him, on the opposite side of the papers.

"So...this is what you've been doing, hm?" Choji picked up a set of papers and scanned through it, not really interested. "Looking up info on girls?"

Shikamaru rolled his eyes at the slightly accusing tone his friend had taken. Long ago, ever since he became jounin, Choji had insisted that he needed a girlfriend. His response was simple: It was too troublesome. It seems that now, after all those years, he still was convinced that the only thing Nara was missing was a girl.

"I was looking up information on the girl that tried to take out Neji yesterday." Shikamaru stated, folding his arms behind his head. "Apparently, she travels with three other girls. I decided to do some in depth searching on her team, in case they decided to attack him again."

Choji nodded, opening a bag of chips as he read through the information. "Seems like they're pretty tough." He mumbled in between bites.

Shikamaru nodded. "Yeah...what bothers me though is their techniques...I can't find much about any of them, and when Neji was fighting that girl, Tenten, even he couldn't find out what exactly her style was."

Choji frowned, though it wasn't exactly noticeable due to his eating. "I see..." Was all he could manage.

A sigh came from Nara. "This is such a drag..."

Akimichi nearly laughed. "You'll figure out something." He said in a reassuring way. "You always do."

He would've smiled, but he chose to sigh instead. "That's why it's a drag...It means I have more thinking to do."

This time, Choji did laugh. He stood up, preparing to walk away. "That what makes you so cool, Shikamaru. You're a great leader."

He couldn't have hidden his smile even if he wished to. "Thanks, Choji."

The larger man nodded, and walked away, until Shikamaru couldn't hear his chewing anymore. He picked up a set of papers, concentrating on the information that he was able to get from it. The name of this particular girl was Sakura, and the numbers of kills that had distinctively been recognized as hers were extremely low for an assassin, only five. He looked at the next two names. Temari and Hinata. Each had seven kills. Tenten, he knew from memory, had the highest number of identifiable kills, ten, but even so, for assassins that have been working as long as they have, the number of assassinations should have been much higher. Shikamaru frowned.

_What is it about these girls and their attacks that not even the best ANBU and medical ninjas can identify? _

That would be the question that remained on his mind for the next few hours.

* * *

**Kazuki: Six pages...I really wanted to make this longer, but I didn't want to just drone on and spoil something. -secretive laugh- Anyways, sorry for the late chapter, and review! I love the reviews, they help me at least _try _to hurry up! And thanks to DarkMaidenTerri for being an awesome Beta reader for my story. She's really helping me out. Until next time, Ja ne!**


	3. Thunder

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Naruto. Get it? -sigh-

**Kazuki's corner:** There are soo many reasons why this update is late, but I'm not gonna go through them. It's here now, and Fragile will be updated shortly. Thank you all the reviewers, for being patient, or not so patient. -sweatdrop- I truly am sorry for the delay! The only good that I believe did come out of it was that I had to time to redo this chapter and make it better...and longer. Well, enough of my rambling. Enjoy!

**P.s: Airiku-chan...Has not...betaed this..-.- I had to do it myself. Why? Because her computer is dead. -.-**

**Oh! And something new I'm adding to my chapters!**

**Inspiration Song**: Smothered by Spineshank

* * *

_On the Tip of A Dagger_

Chapter 3- Thunder

"Hey, you should take a break. It's not like you to stay up all night."

"Tsk. There's no time for a break. I need to figure this out."

"Eh?! The Shikamaru I knew would never even mutter something along those lines! You really do need a break, man."

"Chouji..."

"At least you can come to the library. You might be able to find something else there."

Shikamaru smiled. If no one else would stand beside him, he always knew that the large man standing in front of him would be there.

"Yeah...alright, let me get the rest of these and we can go."

Chouji sighed, but waited patiently for the overworked nin to gather all of the documents he was reading. As soon as he stuffed them in his courier bag, they were on their way.

"So, what exactly is it that you're trying to find out, Shika?" Chouji asked, opening a bag of his favorite barbecue flavored chips.

"How many jutsus do you know of that don't leave a trace behind after you use it?"

Chouji stopped walking to think for a minute. "Well, there is some higher level genjutsu...And I think the Yamanaka clan have some jutsus that can't be traced...that's all I can think of right now..."

His companion sighed heavily. "Those are all I've been able to get too..."

"This is a perfect reason to go to the library." Chouji said brightly.

Shikamaru nodded. "You're right."

"Excuse me."

Both males looked up. A woman with long blond hair and sky blue eyes stood in front of them, one hand holding the strap of her backpack.

"I couldn't help but to overhear that you were going to the library. Could you possibly show me where it is?"

Chouji elbowed Shikamaru in the side lightly, giving him a look he knew all too well. 'This may be your chance.' It read. The Nara sighed in defeat.

"Alright, we'll take you."

"Thank you." The woman smiled and fell in line beside them as they started walking.

"My name's Akimichi Chouji, and that's Nara Shikamaru."

"It's a pleasure to meet you. My name's Ino."

Shikamaru made a noise of acknowledgment, already knowing that Chouji was attempting to play matchmaker again. Couldn't he just realize that he wasn't interested in a girlfriend right now?

"So I take it you're not a part of Konoha?"

She shook her head. "No, I just travel around the different villages a lot. This is the second time I've been to Konoha, but I never paid attention to where the library was the first time I visited."

Shikamaru stole a glance at the woman. She didn't have a headband on, so he automatically assumed that she wasn't a ninja, just some traveling villager. His attention drew back to their conversation.

"...lived in Sunagakure for a while but recently I moved to Kusagakure."

'Why there?"

Ino shrugged slightly. "I don't know. I mean, I really like the flowers and the overall look of the place. It gives me a lot to work with at the flower shop."

"You own a flower shop? Wow that's cool."

Shikamaru sighed, looking ahead. "We're here." He muttered off handedly.

Ino looked up. "Oh! Well, thanks for escorting me." She gave them a smile.

"It's no problem really. It's not like we were going out of our way." Chouji replied with a smile back.

Ino looked to Shikamaru, who seem uninterested. "It was nice meeting the both of you."

Shikamaru just nodded, along with Chouji. "You too."

They entered the library, Ino separated from them, giving them a slight wave before disappearing behind a shelf of books. As soon as she was out of their sight, Chouji hit his lazy friend on the back of his head.

"Ouch! What was that for?"

"Why didn't you talk to her?! She was eying you the entire time! That was your chance!"

Shikamaru raised an eyebrow. "Chance? Chance for what?"

Chouji gave him a look before sighing heavily. "Shikamaru...you're hopeless man."

The shadow user ignored the comment and began searching for untraceable jutsus. _Maybe I should've asked Kakashi before coming here. _

He reached for a book, pausing slightly when he noticed the book that sat next to it. He smirked. That should give him all the information he needed. He picked up both books anyway and made his way to a table. Chouji was talking to the librarian about something and both were sending glances towards him, but their voices were so low he couldn't hear a word.

Shikamaru sighed. "This is so troublesome." He muttered before taking notes.

* * *

"Oi, Oi! Take it easy, teme!" 

"Dobe. What kind of idiot wants people to go easy on him during training?"

"Shut up!"

"Heh. Make me."

"Oh yeah?! Get your ass over here and I will!"

"See that? How can you call yourself a ninja if you can't even step up to the challenge? You're lazier than Shikamaru and his dad combined."

"What was that?!"

"You heard me, Dobe."

"Say it to my face!"

"Would you both just shut the hell up?"

"Stay out of this, Neji!"

"No. You two are annoying and you both need to shut up."

"Just stay to yourself, Hyuuga. This is between me and him."

"I don't give a shit. I said shut the hell up."

"Neji why don't you go somewhere and play with Kiba and Akamaru? I'm sure you'll be welcome."

"Heh."

"Naruto...You're asking for it."

"Oh what was that Neji? I couldn't quite hear you. Stop being such a geisha and speak up."

"Naruto I'm going to kick your ass."

"Ha! Come here and try it!"

"Neji, my friend, it seems as though you're participating in the same thing that you were standing against!"

"Lee...shut up."

The shinobi glared at each other, with the exception of Lee of course. Somehow, any form of stupidity couldn't affect their spandex clad training partner. Naruto leaned back against the training post and engaged himself in a staring contest with Sasuke.

Unfortunately, it was soon interrupted by a figure stepping in between them. Naruto blinked.

"Shikamaru?"

The shadow user wasn't even looking in the blonde's direction. His dark eyes were focused on Neji.

"You just had to do it didn't you?"

Neji raised an eyebrow. "What are you talking about?"

Shikamaru dropped his bag on the ground with a loud 'thud'. This only raised the team's confusion.

"You just _had_ to piss someone off to the extent that they ordered the highest level of ANBU class assassins, didn't you?" He muttered tiredly.

If Shikamaru had ever seen Neji so surprised before, he probably would've taken a picture and keep it forever for blackmail. Too bad he didn't have a camera with him.

"_What?_"

Shikamaru sighed heavily. "You have a lot on your hands now, Neji. Everything about those girls, _all_ of them, just steadily spells out the words 'Big Trouble.'"

The tension between the group was suffocating. So suffocating that there was only one person who could manage to talk through it.

"Shikamaru," Lee started, "Please start from the beginning."

0o0 An Hour Later 0o0

The Hyuuga prodigy was pissed. With his hands stuffed in his pockets, he fumed silently as he made his way into the Hyuuga manor. No one questioned his foul mood, or the bag full of papers that was slung over his shoulder. It was obvious enough that he didn't want to be bothered as he stalked to his room, nearly slamming the door behind him. He dropped the bag on the desk, flopping on his bed afterwards. His arms were folded behind his head, pale eyes glaring at the ceiling as if it had something to do with all his problems. Everything Shikamaru had told him still circled in his head.

"_One or more of them are pros in genjutsu. They use that to conceal almost all of their assignments."_

"_Meaning?"_

"_Meaning, Naruto, that they could kill you and not even the Godaime could figure out how."_

Neji sat up, opening the bag and pulling out the first stack of papers he could get to.

"Sakura, eh?" He muttered, flipping through the pages. She was the known genjutsu user of the entire group, and the one Shikamaru had warned everyone to stay away from. The others, he said, weren't as dangerous, but they were still advised not to take it easy. He knew he should've been with the others right now, training, but he couldn't keep his mind clear for more than two minutes. He read through Sakura's stack of papers before setting them down and looking for the documents on the one person that he actually wanted to find. Tenten. Top class weapons handler. Assassinated the Hokage of the Waterfall village, and has been known to taunt her victims before killing. There was no denying that she was a worthy opponent, in fact, she was probably too much for him.

Neji closed his eyes. There must've something wrong with him. Him, Hyuuga Neji, genius of the Hyuuga clan, was scared of some chick? He rolled over on his side, opening his eyes to gaze at the stack of papers he was given. A sigh passed through his lips.

Tonight was going to be a long night...

* * *

"The moon's full tonight..." She muttered to no one as she stared out her bedroom window, teal eyes focused on nothing. Her precious fan was leaning against the wall, at ease now that training is over. Temari leaned on the windowpane, gazing out at the night sky. Gentle breezes ran through the trees, relaxing her more than anything does, even a bubble bath. The looming shadows and the quiet atmosphere added to the feeling. It was so much better than being in Suna... 

A sudden movement behind the bushes caught her eye. She tensed slightly, before slowly reaching to her nightstand to grab the kunai that she kept there for safety measures. Normally, she didn't use basic ninja tools, but retrieving her fan right now would lead her away from the window, and would take too much time. The kunai felt weird in her hands, but how was she supposed to call herself a kunoichi if she didn't know how to use it? Her grip tightened as she leaned slightly forward, her sharp eyes focused on the area where the movement had been. She waited. There was no further motions, but she wasn't about to let her guard down.

"Hiya, Temari."

The sand kunoichi jumped, startled, and spun around. She breathed a sigh of relief.

"Ino...You scared me."

The blue-eyed girl just laughed and sat on the edge of her bed. "You should've been able to sense me better than that, you know."

"It's not like it's easy." Temari took a seat on the bed as well. "You and Sakura have the stupid ability to completely hide your aura. I'm not about to walk around concentrating all of my chakra just to see if one of you are sneaking up on me."

Ino laughed again. "I wasn't attempting to hide my chakra, you know. It just...does that."

"Yeah, yeah. You're a Yamanaka and Sakura is just weird like that. I know. I've heard it before."

Both girls laughed. Teasing eachother and joking around was only the fun part about being teammates. Ino shook her head, giggling lightly.

"It's been a while since I could just hang out with you like this." She said nostalgically. Too bad Hinata and Sakura are dead asleep, or I would've been messing with them too."

Temari raised an eyebrow. "What about Tenten?"

Ino shrugged. I didn't see her when I came in so I guess she went out."

"I see...So, what did you find out on your little trip with Katsuro?"

"Nothing really." She muttered in response. "I found out more on my own."

"Oh? Like what?"

"Like Neji's little team- or at least part of it- are doing research of their own."

A silence crossed between them as Temari's eyes widened.

"How much do they know?" She asked, her tone reverting to a more serious one.

"I'm not sure, but I know they know enough to be of some trouble." She gave her teammate a serious look. "They know almost everything about you, Tenten, Hinata, and Sakura, and they know that you all are good at hiding your tracks."

"What about you?"

Ino smirked. "They don't even know I'm not some normal traveling citizen."

Temari's smirk equaled hers. "Seems like we have one foot up on them now doesn't it."

Ino nodded, standing up and stretching. "Well, I'm gonna go out for a bit. See ya later, Temari."

Temari whined. "But you just got here!"

Ino gave a small smile before walking to the open window.

"Such is the life of a spy, Temari," She closed her eyes. "Be glad you don't have it."

In a flash and a swirl of leaves, the purple-clad ninja was gone, and Temari was left alone. Silently, she thought of the morning, and what would take place once it arrived.

_Tomorrow is going to be one long day..._

* * *

Unlike yesterday, the sun was not out and it was not warm. Rain poured down relentlessly, somehow managing to dampen his mood. The day before, he was willing and eager to begin training, but now, as he stood outside his door, he was beginning to have second thoughts. He wasn't too fond of training in the rain. Naruto had definitely made it worse than he would've imagined during one particular session. Even though he had chosen to forget the events of that day, they would always surface whenever he was faced with the decision to spar in the rain or not. He sucked his teeth and turned around, re-planning his entire day. _I'll just meditate..._

"Oi! Sasuke!"

The dark haired shinobi froze, his hand on the handle of the door. Reluctantly, he turned around to face the voice that called him.

"What do you want?"

Completely soaked and his hair sticking to his face, a fox-like smile grew as he jogged up to his teammate. "I wanted to ask you something."

"Go on."

"You coming to the dojo today? Cause me and Lee are-"

"No."

Naruto blinked, his eyes widening slightly. "What?"

"I said no. Now go away."

"But-"

"Naruto, you remember what happened last time? After that I'm not doing any kind of sparring with you when it's raining."

Naruto blinked again, then sighed heavily. "It was an accident!"

"I don't care."

The blonde shinobi pouted, crossing his arms over his chest. "I don't know why you're acting so stuck up, Sasuke. It was just a kiss!"

"_Just a kiss? _Naruto, as soon as you heard thunder you jumped on me!"

"It wasn't my fault, I was just startled!"

"Hn. I'm not training with you."

"Aw, come on!"

"NO!"

Naruto glared daggers at the Uchiha, who in return, glared back. "Fine." He huffed. "I don't care if you get your ass whooped by some girl like Neji did because lack of training."

He muttered a plethora of things as he walked away, with Sasuke watching his back the entire time.

"Wait."

His back turned towards him, Naruto smirked. _Gotcha._

Sasuke stepped out from the safety of his porch into the rain, grudgingly walking after Naruto. "Let's just go."

Naruto beamed. "Yosh!" His step became lighter, and it seemed as though he were bouncing all the way to the training dojo.

Sasuke growled, his hair flattening from the rain. All he could do is pray that another ''accident'' didn't happen.

* * *

It was days like these that made Neji glad that he was a member of the Hyuuga clan. With its enclosed training halls, he didn't have to go outside when it's raining. However, when the weather was nice, he would always opt to train outdoors. Why? Because there was a little brat by the name of Hanabi who could always be found in the training area, and no matter how many times he said no, she would insist on fighting him. She had no chance, and inwardly he thought she knew that, but being the stubborn heiress to the Main Branch, he couldn't help but to listen to her to some extent. 

Even if it was for her own good that she didn't fight him.

Neji waited patiently for the young girl to get up. Even through all this, he did admire her determination.

"Not...done yet." She panted, kunai in hand as she charged at him. She hadn't learned how to manage her Byakugan as of yet, but her skill in basic taijutsu was impressive for a seven-year-old. Neji sidestepped her straightforward attack, grabbing her arm and twisting it around her back. She yelped, struggling against his grip.

"Hanabi-sama, would you please consider on giving up? I have other training to complete." He said softly, trying not to hurt the girl's feelings, but at the same time trying to get somewhere on his agenda.

"Fine." She mumbled as Neji let her go. She stormed off, obviously irritated or embarrassed. If he felt like thinking about it, he would've considered it a mixture of both.

"Finally..." He stepped forward, using one of the training dummies and slipping into a stance.

Hell, it wasn't a real person, but he damn sure could perfect his Rokujuu Yonshu for the time being.

0o0 Break 0o0

Sakura was a generally happy person. Never the type to wake up in a bad mood, she was considered the most optimistic person of the group besides Ino. However, today was different. Gently, she rubbed her temples, taking in everything Temari had told them over breakfast. How Hinata could be so calm after hearing information like this was beyond her. Their opposing team knew practically everything there is to know about all of them, excluding Ino. Everything from the abilities they've shown to their blood type. How the hell was she so calm?!

"Sakura, relax." The indigo-haired girl said while sipping her tea carefully. "They only know a few small things. It's not like we don't have tricks up our sleeves."

"But what if they know those too?" She protested. "I hate to say it, but we can't exactly rely on Ino to find out everything for us!"

Temari glanced up at the pink haired kunoichi before returning to her food. "Calm down, Sakura." She muttered, having already been in a slightly bad mood because of the rain. "Since when have we not been able to overcome the worst of odds?"

Sakura frowned, staring at her plate. "Still..."

"Don't worry about it."

The three looked up at the extremely soaked Tenten. "There's no way I'm going to fail this mission, and if you fail, I fail, so you can count on me to get us through this if we need it, okay?"

A small smile bloomed on her pink-haired teammate's face as she nodded. Temari raised an eyebrow.

"Where on earth have you been? You've been gone since last night!"

Tenten removed her soaked strands from its two buns, allowing the wavy hair to flow down her back. "I've been training that's all." She shook slightly, earning a disgruntled 'Hey!' from the blonde as water splashed on her. She snickered, making her way to her room to take a nice, warm bath. Sakura stirred up conversation with Temari, mostly about redecorating her bedroom. Hinata was busy writing something down while silently enjoying her tea.

There were some things that Hinata wouldn't allow her team to know, in order to prevent unnecessary incidents. Sakura's apprehension reminded her to double check everything, and to make sure nothing else is hidden beneath what was revealed. It was her duty as a leader to keep her team calm, and she did not plan on failing in that position. So, when Ino had secretly told her that there was possibly another member of Neji's team, she did not reveal it to the others. There was absolutely no reason to further Sakura's worries, and even though Temari seemed calm, she knew that the desert blonde was also wary of their situation.

"Hinata?" Sakura broke her concentration, but she didn't let it show. She looked up.

"Yes?"

"Are you finished with your food? I'm going to wash the dishes." She began to pick up the plates on the table as if backing up her statement.

Hinata glanced down at the plate in front of her. It had little on it, but then again, there hadn't been much on it to begin with. She eyed the bacon, deep in thought, as she contemplated on whether she wanted it or not. Watching this, Temari and Sakura both sweatdropped. After what seemed like ages, the pale-eyed girl finally picked up the bacon placed it in her mouth, handing Sakura the plate. Temari choked back a laugh while Sakura struggled to smile as she took the plate and headed towards the kitchen. Hinata began to write once again, the piece of bacon dangling from her mouth as she chewed on it every so often. Temari shook her head, laughing lightly as she pushed herself from the table to help Sakura clean up. Neither kunoichi bothered Hinata for the remainder of the morning, both inwardly knowing that she had something on her mind. What else could explain why she was so spaced out?

Sakura shook her head lightly, scrubbing the dishes before setting them in the dishwasher. She really wished that she had owned a house like this, knowing that it would only be a while before they would have to leave again. It was always like that- get a house using any means necessary, stay for a while, and then leave when it became too dangerous for them to stay there. The thought of giving up on being an assassin often crossed her mind, but no matter how many times she thought about how much easier it would be, she reminded herself of Ino's job. If there were anything worse than being an assassin, it would definitely be being a spy who works for assassins. They rarely ever saw Ino when they had big missions like this one, and it was all because she went all out to make sure they weren't walking right into something they couldn't handle. Sakura admired that, but never told the blonde herself. No matter how hard her job was, Ino's ego was big, and inflating it was the last thing that Sakura wanted to do.

"Hey Temari?"

"Hm?"

Sakura paused to find her words before speaking. "How long do you think this mission is going to be?"

Temari leaned against the kitchen wall, thinking for a few moments. "Well...given the fact that all of us will have to be on this mission for it to be finished...I'd say a couple of days. A week, at max."

"That's not so bad..."

"It's just an estimate, you know. There's four of them, there's four of us, five including Ino. It shouldn't take long."

Sakura nodded before she was nudged in the side.

"Don't fall for one of them this time."

A blush spread across her face as she clenched her teeth. "I did _not_ fall for that guy damnit!"

Temari laughed. "Really? So why are you the same color as your hair?"

This only caused further agitation. "Temari!" She growled.

"You're not denying it anymore." She pointed out.

Sakura swiped her hand under the water, effectively splashing her annoying interrogator. Temari yelped, before glaring at her attacker.

"Sakura..."

Sakura laughed before taking off, running out of the kitchen and up the stairs with Temari not far behind. Once upstairs the little mock fight began.

Hinata paused in her writing to listen to the shrieks and yelps coming from upstairs. Chuckling to herself, she muttered something about playful moods before returning to her task.

* * *

Shikamaru blinked tiredly as he stared at the rather amusing scene before him. What had started off as a simple sparring match was now nothing but a fit of yells and screams. All because of one thing. Thunder. 

"Never again damnit!" There was a crash as the angered Uchiha threw the Shadow Clone look-a-like version of Naruto across the room.

"Sasuke it was-"

"Accident my ass! I don't care what it was, that's the LAST time I'm training with you when it's raining! Ever!"

"Sasuke-kun, calm down."

"The last two things you can say to me right now are calm down and call me 'Sasuke-kun', so Lee just shut up!"

"Sasuke-"

"Naruto that's the second fucking time you 'accidentally' kissed me!"

Naruto scratched the back of his head. "Technically, it was the clone who kissed you so..."

"IT'S THE SAME THING!"

"This is so troublesome..."

* * *

**Kazuki's corner**: Okay that's it for now. I don't want to go on and on forever. Lol. This is practically a semi-filler chapter... -sweatdrops again- Gomen. It's probably not all that good, but I did attempt... Oh well. Read and Review, minna!! Ja ne! 


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